With electronic devices, particularly portable devices such as mobile phones, becoming smaller and yet at the same time offering a wider range of functions, there is a need to integrate multifunctional chips but without increasing the size of the devices and keeping a small form factor. Increasing the number of electronic components in a 2D structure is incompatible with these objectives, and therefore 3D packages are increasingly being adopted in order to provide greater functionality and higher component density but with a small form factor.
In a 3D structure electronic components such as semiconductor chips may be provided in a multilayer stacked structure. To connect electrically the components in different layers through-silicon-via (TSV) technology may be used to provide the electrical interconnect and to provide mechanical support. In TSV technology a via is fabricated in a silicon chip and the via is filled with metal. Multiple components provided with such vias are then stacked and bonded together.